Method of plaiting and apparatus for the practice of such method



June 24, 1958 M. ROUSSOS METHOD OF PLAITING AND APPARATUS FOR THE PRACTICE OF SUCH METHOD Filed Oct. 25, 1955 ATTORNEYS METHOD OF PLAITING AND APPARATUS FOR THE lRACTICE QF SUCI-ITME'IQI IOD This invention relates to a novel method of plaiting and a machine for the'pr actice o'f suchplaiting, wherein cloth, especialiy of synthetic'material such as nylongis treated so that the pleat' is maintained free irom any damage to the material or designs and orriarnentation incorporated therein.

This application is a continuation in part of my prior application for United States liettersPatent, now abancloned, entitled Fabric Plaiti'ngfMachine, Serial No. 280,288, filed on April 3, 1952. i A

' It is a princip'alobject of the invention to provide a machine in which cloth is saturated with water prior'to plaiting. i V It is a further object to provide a machine in which the amount of water left inwetted 'cloth'prior to plaiting may be controlled. i

In conventional plaiting machines such as the type disclosed in Angelusdfatent No. 1,789,421, the cloth to be plaited is steamed prior to plaiting'. Such machines are found to moisten'the clothjnon-uniforr'nly and instilliciently. Furthermore, the wettingof the; paper layers applied to both sides of'the'clothpr'ior to plaiting weakens the fibers making plaiti'ng'difiicult." Themoi'sture drawn out of the cloth by the paper layersleavesthe cloth inadequately moistened for the subsequent-planing process and when the cloth is passed through heated rollers, the cloth often chars; The machine embodying the'invention avoids all these undesirable characteristics of conventional machines by passing the cloth througha water bath prior to p'laiting'. The paper'layers are kept'dry and away from the wetted cloth until just prior'to plaiting and the plaited'assernbly of paper'layers and cloth are immediately passed through heatedfrollers to dry' the cloth and fix the plaits. By 'this'ineans' charring of the'cloth is prevented-and a cleaner, sharpergrnore permanent plait of the cloth is obtained.

It is a still further object to teach a method of plaiting, by means of which a permanent'plait'is' established which will be maintained throughout the life of any unit'within which the plaiting is incorporated, and which method may be readily practiced-by relative unskilled pe rsonsf With these and other objec'tsdninind; reference is had to the attached sheet of'drawing's illustrating practi calembodiments of the invention, andin which:

Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a plaiting'inachine embodying the invention; V Fig. 2 is a sectional side view taken along the. line 2 2 and in the' directionofthearrows as indicated in Fig.1, and j V i V Fig. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view of an alternative form of construction.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the various parts of the apparatus are conveniently mounted on a table it). A roll 2ii of material s'uch'as cloth to be plaited is carried on a roller 21 supported on upstanding. supports i1. The material is passed down under the surface 22 of a quantity of water 24 me tank23IThe'n1aterial ited States Patent -O cession shaking the material to removea certain amount 2,840,283 Patented June 24, 1958 "roller 13 having a plurality of blades 19 and which is' located adjacent the wet sheet of mate'rial issuing from the tank. The beater roller .18 is rotated by a motor 17 having a driving belt '16 connectedto a pulley on the shaft of the motor 13 and beater; roller 18. In operation, one blade at a time contacts the material in rapid sucof water. Rollers 26"and 27 are made of any suitable compressible material to further remove theexcess water from the material as that material passes between them.

The cloth is'held during the beating operation b'ythe rollers'12 and 25 and 26'and '27 mounted in bearings 13 and 14. The material 20 is then passed directly to reciprocating knives or blades 32 and '33 which are mounted in a manner not shown'in detail but well known in the art for plaiting. Rollers 28 and 29 carry rolls of paper and 41 and are supported in'members 44 for free rotation. The papers from rolls" 40 and 41 are passed by rollers 30 and 31m the point 39 at which the paper sheets contact the wet material 20 and blades 32 and 33 impart plaits to the assembled sheets. From the plait'ing point-39, the plaited'assembly is passed directly between the heated rollers 34 and 35, also supported by members 44, where the plaited'assembly is dried to fix the plaits permanently in the material.

The plaited assembly is thenrolled into a roll 37 on roller 43 mounted on supportmembers' 45.1 A motor 36 having apulley 46 and belt 38 drives the'roller 43 to move the material 20 progressively through the. entire plaiting apparatus. Heat in'the form of steam, hot air, electricity or hot wateri's circulated through rollers 34 and 35 via pipes 42, 47 and'47. As an additional control of the amount of water left'in the material afterirnmersion and shaking, the rollers 26 and "27 may be adjustably spaced from" each other. Either or both of rollers 26 and 27 may be formed of sponge-like material if so desired. w

It is a particular feature of this invention that the ma- 7 V terial to be plaited is wholly immersed in a'wa'ter bath prior to plaiting. Also the paper layers are kept dry and away from the wet cloth until the point or" plaiting 39.

7 When paper of the required stillness or consistency is used, the plaits formed in the paper layers holds the wet cloth in plaited condition until the adjacent heated rollers dries the cloth and fixes the plaits.

' By this means, the cloth is kept from losing its moisture to'the paper and subsequently charring as is *common on conventional plaiting machines using only'steam to condition material for plaiting.

As shown in Fig. 3, a slightly different form of construction may be employed. In that view, the parts heretofore described are identified by the same reference numerals as employed in Figs. 1 and 2. However, it will "bej noted that heaters 43 have been illustrated in associathat tank. Beyond this point, thewringing rolls 26 and 27 are'positioned. As afore brought out, their axes may be separated a greater or lesser distanceaccording to'the amount of moisture which is to be removedfrornfthe iii material and also according to the thickness of that material.

In addition to the rolls of kraft paper 40 and 41 which involve a suitable quality of tissue,a roll 50 is provided as part of the assembly. This roll is disposed in advance of the rolls 40 and 41 and passes over a guiding roller 51 to move in a path adjacentto and finally in contact with the surface of the cloth 20. The paper fed from roll 50 should have the functional characteristics of a pebble crepe material. It is apparent that it will come into contact with the surface of the cloth in advance of the station at,which blades 32. and 33 cooperate with the same. Also, it will lie intermediate the cloth layer and the paper strip feeding from roll 41.

By the practice of the present method, it is' feasible to permanently set'or" unset materials, made from nylon,

dacron and combinations of these synthetic fibers with other yarns. Thus, if pleating isv to be achieved, it will be of apermanent nature and remain in desirable condition despite repeated washings of the material which may be subsequently resorted to. Also, no marring of the material o'r its surface and including ornamentation or con- 7 trasts thereon will occur incident to the setting of the material.

as kraft tissue. The former will be applied to the outer face of the cloth While the latter, will contact its inner 1 face. In this manner, the material will be adequately protected from heat which would be damagingalthough sutficient heat is transmitted to properly set a pleat.

Especially, in the case of a velvet type material, three 7 rolls of paper are preferably employed as in Fig. 3. In

this case, paper such. as kraft tissue would be supplied by rolls 40am! 41 while a pebble crepe paper would be suppliedby roll 50. By resorting to such a procdeure,

the material iscaused to dry at a slower rate. Also, no marks are left on the surface of the material. In all instances, the liquid within the tank 23 should have a temperature of from, 200 to.205 F.

By the constructions il1ustrated,it is obvious that the material will be thoroughly saturated with water and ex cess liquid will be removed by the wringer rolls 26 and 27. The action of theseelementsmay, of course, be supplemented by any other'desired mechanism should this be necessary; The receptacle or tank 23 will be disposed I closely adjacent to the pleating station so that the material will suffer minimum moisture losses 'once it has passed through the wringer rolls 26 and 27. The blades 32 and 33, being positioned immediately adjacent the heating rolls and 35,no difliculties will be experienced,

by heat loss withinthe zone 39. However, it will be remembered that minimum heat losses will also occur after the temperature ofthe cloth has been raised by the heat of the liquid within the tank and as it passes to station 39. Thus, the material is presented at this stat on and incorporates just the proper temperature and moisture. i

The parts are so timed that the finished pleat zone emreges in substantially dry condition. Thus, this zone is permanently set. The timing is, of course, varied ac-.

cording to the weight, type and quality of the material which is being worked upon." Obviously lighter weights do not need as high a degree of heat or as great a time intervallo dry and set asheavier weight material. Ac-

cordingly, the machine can be adjusted to operate at a faster or slowerraten Of course, in the case of unsetting,

a relatively slow rate of speed must be resorted to. This .will obviously result in a greater period of'immersion,

By such immersion, and regardless of whether pleating or unpleating is being resorted to, the material is rendered limp.

In connection with all acetates or combinations of these with other yarns, and including talfetas, jerseys, Crepes,- velvets, velveteens, prints, etc., all can be permanently pleated and will remain in proper condition even when subsequently subjected to the action of boiling water. With materials of this type, the same procedure as heretofore outlined in connection with nylons is followed. However, in order to unset acetate, to place it in limp condition for pleating,'ammonia should be added to the water within tank 23. The amount of this addition will involve five gallons of ammonia to everyten gallons of water. The entire mixture is heated to the same 200 205 F. range as heretofore outlined.

'becomes'limp with moisture and is brought to the temperature of said Water, pleating a fiat portion of said cloth while said cloth is hot and moist, setting said pleats into said cloth at a temperature of at least 350 F.

whereby on completion of said setting operation said portion of said cloth is dry and immediately prior to said pleating operation applying moisture absorbent material to the plane surfaces of said portion of said cloth such that said absorbent material is pleated and set simultaneously with said portion of said cloth.

. 2. A method as'in claim 1, wherein said water has a temperature of substantially 200-205 F. a

3. A method as in claim 1, and the additional step of removing the excess moisture from the cloth before said absorbent'material is applied thereto.

4. A method as in claim 1, wherein the setting of the pleats occurs at a temperature substantially between 350 and 500 F. 1

5. A method as in claim 1, wherein ammonia is added to said water.- to increase the limpening effect on cloth of the acetate type..

6. A method as in claim 1, and the further step of applying additional absorbent material to at least one surface of'said cloth before pleating and setting whereby a higher temperature of wetting may be utilized in the setting operation.

7. A machine for permanently pleating cloth comprising a tank adapted to contain a liquid, means rotatably mounting avroll of cloth above said tank, supports adjacent said tank for supporting said roll mountingmeans, a further support adjacent said tank, squeeze rollers rotatably mounted on'said further support, excess liquid removing means mounted on said further support between said squeeze rollers and said tank means for actuating said liquid removing means, guide means within said tank for guiding said material therethrough, separate support means adjacent said tank and spaced therefrom, means for rotatably mounting rolls of paper secured to said separate support, heated rollers rotatably mounted on said separate support, means for pleating said cloth material and said paper between said paper roll mounts a and said heated rollers, pleated material receiving means mounted adjacent said heated rollers and driving means claim 7, wherein said excess liquid removing means are rotatably mounted beaters.

9. A permanent pleating machine including in combination a tank adapted to contain a heated liquid, a cloth material mounting means supported adjacent said tank, means Within said tank for guiding cloth from said cloth mounting means through said tank, pleating means disposed adjacent said tank for pleating said cloth as it emerges therefrom, a pair of sources of moisture absorbent material movably mounted between said tank and said pleating means, means between said sources and said pleating means for guiding said material into contact with the opposite faces of said cloth, a pleated material receiving means adjacent said pleating means away from said tank and driving means connected to such receiving means for drawing said cloth through said tank and said pleating means.

10. In a permanent pleating machine as in claim 9, said pleating means including a pair of elements cooperating with the opposite cloth faces and the absorbent material being disposed to be interposed between said elements and said cloth.

11. A permanent pleating machine as in claim 9, and temperature and pressure means disposed between said pleating means and receiving means for raising the temperature of said cloth, said absorbent material preventing damage to said cloth by said heating means.

12. A permanent pleating machine as in claim 9, and,

agitating means mounted adjacent said tank in advance of said absorbent material sources for removing excess liquid from said cloth.

' 13. A permanent pleating machine as in claim 9, and a further source of moisture-absorbent material and means for guiding the same into contact with a face of one of the first named similar materials between said tank and said pleating means.

14. A method of permanently pleating cloth comprising saturating said cloth with water at a temperature close to the boiling point of said water to raise the temperature of said cloth to approximately the temperature of said water and to cause said heated and saturated cloth to be limp, removing excess Water from the surface of said cloth, surfacing said hot limp saturated cloth with a moisture absorbent sheet on both upper and lower surfaces thereof, folding said surfaced saturated. cloth into pleated position and applying heat at a temperature in excess of 350 F. and pressure to said surfaced saturated cloth until said cloth is dried whereby said pleats are set in substantially permanent form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,789,421 Angelus Jan. 20, 1931 2,097,601 POtdeVin Nov. 2, 1937 2,522,857 Butler Sept. 19, 1950 2,628,656 Stevenson Feb. 17, 1953 

